Assassin's Creed Valhalla includes a minigame called Orlog, which can be played against various NPCs, and it's one of those little distractions that can bloom into an obsession. While the best minigame of all time remains Final Fantasy 8's Triple Triad, Orlog squeezes a surprising amount out of the simple elements of health counters and picture dice.
The video above explains how to play (and here's a written explanation), but essentially imagine Hearthstone without minions. You roll the dice, choose whether to attack or defend or nick 'God Favours', and try to get your opponents' health to zero before they do the same to you.
Board game maker Pure Arts is now taking pre-orders via a wildly successful Kickstarter for an officially licensed physical version of Orlog. The campaign launched two days ago and was looking for around £40,000 / $55,000, and is currently sitting at just under £300,000 / $400,000. That's good news if you're interested, because all the stretch goals have been unlocked (which has basically improved the quality of materials it'll be made with), and the game's reasonably priced at £33 / $39 plus shipping. There's also an early bird price that'll knock a few quid more off, but that offer runs out in hours.
Should you have more Viking gold than you know what to do with, you can also pick up some accessories like a playing mat, some glow-in-the-dark dice, or there's a replica of Eivor's horn (you can see it above) that will set you back $149. I guess you could blow it in celebration when you win?
The Kickstarter runs until July 27, and the games are expected to ship out in December this year. And it does look really rather lovely.
